Gage.



W. H. GUFI'.

` GAGE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18, 1909.

Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

WTA/5555 Car WILLIAIVI H. GUFF, OF BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSQN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEY.

GAGE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TWILLIAM H. Curr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Braintree, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Gages, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a work-gage for shoe machines and especially to a work gage for machines for inserting fastenings to determine the location of the fastenings with respect to the counter or the edge of the sole. During the operation of inserting fastenings in the work the latter is held upon a work support, and a gage is commonly employed to assist the workman in guiding the work as it is turned upon the work support and fed to present di'erent portions to the fastening inserting mechanism. In machines in which the work support is periodically depressed in order to allow the work to be fed it is advantageous that the gage be free to follow the consequent movement of the work. Otherwise a gage which is acting upon a sole may become displaced therefrom while one which is being applied to an upper may abrade the surface thereof.`v

It may also happen that the gage is caused to traverse the crease between the sole and the upper and that the thickness of said sole varies. Here again the advantage of a gage which is free to movetransversely to the line of feed is apparent. i

In order, then, to provide for the specific cxigencies above noted and others of a similar nature, one object of my invention relates to a gage which is supported in such a manner that it may yield in two directions.- Preferably also, means is provided for yieldingly adjusting said gage to the desired position; and said means may conveniently include one of the yielding means which normally support the gage. These and other features of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be explained in connection with the following description of a device and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a perspective showing the invention as embodied in a device having a non-rotary gage, and Fig. 2 is an elevation of a similar device Specication of Letters Patent.

p Application filed January 18, 1909.

Patented Apr. 111, 1914.

serial No. 472,928.

having a rotary gage7 certain parts being broken away.

In both figures portions of the driver and guard plates of a nailing machine are shown in dotted lines, and in Fig. 9. a portion of a shoe is similarly shown in the position which it occupies while being operated upon.

Referring to Fig. 1, a bracket 1 having an extension 3 is adapted to be adjustably attached to the frame of the machine by means of a bolt which passes through a slot in said bracket. Between two reversely placed cups 9 in the extension 3 a comparatively strong spiral spring 11 is conned, said spring' being normally approximately fully extended and serving to maintain the cups at a fixed distance apart. A set screw 13, threaded through the bottom of the extension 3 and held in adjusted position by a lock nut 15, bears against the bottom of the lower cup and serves to vary the tension of the spring i1 and hence the position of the upper cup. A support 1T pivoted to the bracket at 19 has one end held upwardly by the yielding cup or abutment 9 while the opposite end is also urged upwardly by a spring 2O coiled about the pivot 19 and having one end engaging a shoulder on the bracket 1 and the other end extended beneath the support 17. Inasmuch as the support 17 is pivoted at a point between those at which the springs act it is evident that said springs are opposed or reversely acting and that the support is yieldingly held in position. The end of the support remote from that which engages the abutment 9 is split as at 21 and is provided with a screwthreaded socket. and a pinch-bolt 23 therefor. In the socket is mounted a hollow stud 25 having a cavity 26 in its upper portion and being provided with a kerf Q7 for the reception of a turning tool. Upon the stud 25 is mounted a work gage comprising a base 29 and two work engaging members 31 and 33, said base and members being here shown as integral. Either of these members may be used according to the character of the work or the preference of the operator; and in order to facilitate positioning these members with respect to the support 17, said support carries a pin 35 which co-act-s with properly positioned sockets in the base 29. The work engaging members 31 and 33 may be of suoli relative lengths that one may be used to position the outer row of fastenings while soV the other may be used to position the inner row.

in operation the gage is placed in position on the support with the pin 35 engaging the socket desired. The stud 25 is then screwed into the support and the pinch-bolt 23 advanced. By these means the gage is held securely against any tendency to work loose. The set screw 13 is then manipulated to lower the gage against the tension of the spring 2O or to allow said spring 2O to raise said gage, as the case may be, in order .to bring' the gage into proper position. The device having been thus adjusted a shoe is presented to the machine with the end of the work engaging member inserted in the crease between the sole and the upper, said member serving to guide the shoe while it is being fed to the machine. Ordinarily in work of this class the tendency is almost entirely toward occasional depression of the gage, and in the present device such depression is readily permitted by the coinvparatively weak spring 20. On the other hand should there be any considerable tendency to elevate the gage such elevation would be possible by reason of the presence of the spring 11.

Referring now to Fig. 2 the bracket, the support and their associated parts are identical with those shown'in Fig. 1. The gage, however, is a rotary one and comprises a base 37 and a work engaging member 39' held together by a plate al and screws 43. The stud 25 is identical with that shown in Fig. l, but in this form the cavity is covered by the plate 41 and forms therewith a closed receptacle for lubricant, the stud being pro-- vided with a passage 44 leading from the receptacle to the bearing and serving as an outlet for lubricant. The plate a1 has an Iopening in its center which is normally closed by a spring-pressed ball valve 45, said valve being adapted to be depressed by the spout of an oil can so as to allow the cavity or receptacle to be filled with oil. |The plate, 41, it will be seen, performs two functions, that of clamping the work engaging member in place so that members of different materials such as brass, felt, rubber, etc., may be employed (the dotted lines indicating the outline of a felt member), and that of serving as a cover for the lubricant receptacle. In operation the device is adjusted to proper position as explained above in connection with the description of the device shown in Fig. 1. A work engaging member of the desired material having been clamped in place and the lubricant receptacle having been filled, a shoe is presented in position to be operated upon and guided by the gage while it is being fed to the machine. The rotation of the gage draws the lubricant from the cavity or receptacle 26 through the passage 4A to the bearing, the lubricant tending to flow only during the rotation of the gage. 71th this construction it is necessary to fill the receptacle only occasionally, andV no further attention is required since the lubricant is fed automatically as it is needed.

Although this device has been shown and described in connection with a particular machine and as applied to a particular part .of a shoe it should be'understood that the machine and the method of application of the device are purely illustrative and' that nothing herein containedv is to be construed as limiting this invention in the scope of its application to the specific machine or the speciic application shown and described.

Having thus described this invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patentis 1. A device of the class described having, in combination, an edge gage capable at all times of being moved by the work in two opposite directions to bring it into various operative positions, and means for yieldingly supporting Vsaid gage in all operative positions thereof against movement in each direction.

2. A device of the class described having,

in combination, an edge gage capable at all times of being moved by the work in two opposite directions to bring it into various operative positions, means for yieldingly supporting said gage in all operative positions thereo-f against movement in each direction, and means for varying the tension of one of said yielding means.

3. in a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings in a shoe, an edge gage past which the shoe is fed, a support for the gage movable in two directions transverse to the line of feed, and a pair of balanced springs normally holding said gage in a given position and acting to return said gage, when displaced, to said position, said gage being movable at all times in both directions in order to permit said gage to follow movements of the work in directions transverse to the line of feed.

a. In a machine for insert-ing successively a plurality of fastenings in a shoe, an edge gage past which the shoe is fed, a support for the gage movable in two directions transverse to the line of feed, a pair of balanced springs normally holding said gage in a given position and acting to return said gage, when displaced, to said position, said gage being movable at all times in both directions in order to permit said gage to follow movements of the work in directions transverse to the line of feed, and means acting through one spring to increase the tension of the other.

5. In a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings in a shoe, an edge gage past which theshoe is fed, a pivoted support for said gage angularly movable in two directions transverse to the line of feed, and a pair of oppositely acting balanced springs acting normally to hold the gage in a given position, said gage being at all times movable with the work transversely of the line of feed.

6. In a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings in a shoe, an edge gage past which the shoe is fed, a pivoted support for said gage angularly movable in two directions transverse to the line of feed, a` pair of oppositely acting balanced springs acting normally to hold the gage in a given position, said gage being at all times movable with the work transversely of the line of feed, and means for adjusting said support about its pivot.

7. In a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings ina shoe, an edge gage past which the shoe is fed, a pivoted lever upon which said gage is mounted, and springs acting simultaneously on said lever on opposite sides of the pivot and in opposition to each other for holding said lever in position.

8. In a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings in a shoe, an edge gage past which the shoe is fed, a pivoted support angularly movable about its pivot in all operative positions of said gage, and two springs acting simultaneously 1n opposition to eac-h other for yieldingly opposing such movement.

9. In a machine for inserting successively a plurality of fastenings in which the work support is periodically depressed to permit said work to be fed, an edge gage past which said work is fed and a plurality of springs acting simultaneously upon said edge gage in opposition to each other whereby said gage may yield in each direction in a path transverse to the direction of feed.

10. A device of the class described, having in combination, a support, a rotary base carried thereby, a work engaging member, a stud having a cavity therein, and a single means for covering said cavity and for clamping said member to said base.

l1. A device of the class described, having in combination, a support, a stud carried thereby, a rotary base mounted on said stud,

`a. work engaging member, and means for clamping said member to said base.

l2. A device for use with nailing machines comprising a pivoted lever, a gage mounted on one end of said lever, a spring between the frame of the machine and one end of said lever acting to move the lever angularly and thereby to raise the gage, and a second spring between the frame of the machine and the opposite end of the lever acting to depress said gage whereby said gage in all positions is yieldingly held from movement in either direction.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing` witnesses.

VILLIAM I-I. CUFF.

Witnesses FRED IV. GUIBORD, ARTHUR L. RUSSELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing' the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

